Humanities Now: Perspectives across Cultures

Lecture Series by Professor Leo Ou-fan Lee

The renowned scholar and cultural critic Leo Ou-fan Lee gave six lectures focusing on strategic ‘moments’ in history where art forms across cultures appear to illuminate each other. By exploring works of modern artists and thinkers from both East and West, Prof Lee aimed to recover the ethical significance of the humanities for today. These lectures were designed to deepen our understanding and appreciation of modern culture through talks that are free from jargon and engaging discussions with the audience.

Lecture 1. Confusions of Pleasure: the Crisis of Humanities under Globalization - Exploring new humanistic approach to everyday life in today’s globalized world of commodity culture. / September 18, 2009audio only

Lecture 2. Reconnecting the Humanities - How to reinvigorate the humanities by restoring the relevance of creative “moments” in literature and thought. / October 9, 2009audio only

Lecture 3. The Fate of the Novel - A retrospective on the modern European novel, with comparisons with significant works by non-European writers, particularly in Asia. / October 30, 2009audio only

Lecture 4. Literary Visions - Adapting Classics to the Screen - Enjoying literature through film as interconnected processes, with emphasis on the classics. / November 13, 2009audio only

Lecture 5. Listening to the 20th Century - Musical Culture at the Limits - Classical music as a buttress against the inhuman and as a tool of active sociopolitical engagement. / November 27, 2009audio only

Lecture 6. Garden in the City: Towards a Humanistic Architecture - Is it possible to reinvent a new aesthetic form of architecture in China under the super-modern “impact from the West”? / December 11, 2009audio only